Teach Me
by Lucinda
Summary: After s3 Graduation, Xander decides that he needs to find a teacher so that he can learn to fight. Eventually, he finds just the right... character.


author: Lucinda  
  
rating: pg  
  
main characters: Xander, Taz  
  
Disclaimer: Xander and all things Sunnydale are the creation of Joss Whedon. Taz and his version of Tasmania are the creation of Looney Tunes/Warner Brother's entertainment.  
  
Distribution: XanderZone, INeedAParrot, Jinni, Paula - anyone else just ask.  
  
notes: set just after Graduation (end of season 3). This ficlet is written as I rejoice in the idea that college is out for the summer.  
  
Xander sat on the rock, watching the dark figure in front of him. His mind turned back to the year before, from the end of junior year until Graduation, and the whole mess that his life had become. He'd learned a lot while Buffy was gone, and one of the things that he'd learned was that he really wasn't a very good fighter.  
  
He'd decided to spend his summer after graduation finding a teacher, someone that he could learn from. His request at the airport for a ticket that would take him 'as far from Sunnydale as two hundred seventeen dollars could get me' had booked him a ticket on the roughest, longest flight that he'd heard of. He'd staggered out in Tasmania, blinking in exhaustion. He'd dozed for a while at the airport, feeling more alert after a nap, and absolutely certain that everything in his duffel was in desperate need of being washed.  
  
The significance of his destination had eluded him for a while, until he'd seen the wildlife warnings. Platypus Crossing signs. Keep out of water-beware of crocodile signs. This was Tasmania... was there really a Taz?  
  
He'd decided to pick up some supplies and go searching for the answer. So, after exchanging his money, and wandering through a store trying to figure out how much things cost in real money, he'd bought some things and headed out. Tasmania... Come to Tasmania... The refrain from the silly cartoon that had tried to put a whole different spin on Taz kept echoing through his mind.  
  
It had been a miserable week before he'd found this area. Okay, a week of being completely lost before he'd staggered into an area where trees and boulders featured gaping cutouts that were shaped almost like a tornado. This could only be the land of Taz... And it occurred to him to wonder if this quest of his was safe or the last bravely foolish thing that he'd ever do.  
  
He'd found him this morning. A short, dark furred beast with big eyes that darted from side to side, little stubby legs, and an expression of suspicious confusion. It could only be Taz, the real, the most memorable Tasmanian Devil. It had been very easy to follow him, both when he walked along with an almost comical looking walk or when he began whirling like a top and cutting through trees and rocks.  
  
"I'm not going away." Xander spoke, his eyes on Taz. "I need to learn how to fight, how to keep myself safe. And I've seen all the cartoons - or at least, most of them. Nothing manages to get rid of you. Not even Bugs Bunny at his most creative. I want to learn how you do it."  
  
Taz looked over his shoulder, eying Xander speculatively. His brow seemed to lower as he heard the words, and he turned around, facing his follower. After a few moments, his mouth opened, and a series of utterances emerged. "Ulah! Rreaah! Uglatnnggg-Pppppbbttt!"  
  
"umm... I have no idea what any of that meant." Xander shook his head, trying to watch Taz without seeming like a threat or like a potential meal.  
  
For a moment, Taz was quiet and still, just looking at him. With a sigh, one furry hand gestured for Xander to follow. "You. Come. Learn. We get that bunny-rabbit."  
  
Blinking, Xander could feel the grin spread over his face. He had been accepted as the student of Taz. And when he had learned, they would get that rabbit... He just hoped that working together, they'd be good enough to defeat that rascally wabbit. And that the whole nearly indestructible thing was something that could actually be taught. "Sure."  
  
Hopeful, Xander followed his new teacher into the Tasmanian sunset, certain that his life would never be the same.  
  
end Teach Me. 


End file.
